Don't Go Without Me
by Anytha84
Summary: "His heart shattered when he realised that he wouldn't be able to reach her again. She didn't want to think that he was somewhere where she couldn't reach him." FitzSimmons' POV during episode 1x17. Set after Hesitation and Focus. R


So, I wasn't able to post this before ep. 18 but I wanted to write it well. I had loads of FitzSimmons' feelings after watching 1x17. And also a lot of feelings for the Team.

This is placed after my other fics Hesitation and Focus. Hope you guys like it...

Thanks to my Beta StarryDreamer01 who helped me edit this.

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN AGENTS OF SHIELD.

* * *

-:-

_Heaven or hell or somewhere in between_

_Cross your heart to take me when you leave_

_Don't go_

_Please don't go_

_Don't go without me_

_-C'est la mort, The Civil Wars-_

-:-

Hydra.

Hydra _inside_ SHIELD.

The thought itself was terrifying and Fitz couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that it was actually happening.

But the message Skye had decrypted was clear.

It was too much, all together...

His heart and mind were still racing after his close call with May. Having one of his own teammates, the _Cavalry_ herself, deliberately shoot at him, had shaken him to the core. He didn't want to dwell on the fact that if the lab's doors hadn't been bullet proof, he would probably be brain dead now. He knew enough about the properties of dendrotoxin to know what a shot to the head and heart would have done to him...

He heard Coulson and Garrett discuss about the fact that Victoria Hand was the Clairvoyant: Coulson being sure of this while Garrett was still struggling with the revelation.

Fitz was still incredulous too. He may not be Victoria Hand's greatest fan after she'd sent him and Ward to Ossetia without a rescue team, then for not being particularly concerned for Coulson while he had been captured by Centipede. But the idea that she was behind Centipede itself was mind blowing.

And then, he heard Coulson speak in a grave tone.

"We can't change course and we have no idea what's waiting for us at the HUB."

"The HUB...?" Fitz whispered and suddenly his many thoughts started to disentangle and slowly disappear as a single one started to grow in his mind. His heart thudded in his chest.

_Jemma_.

A wave of dread coursed through his body and he had to lean with his hand on the doorframe for support. How could he have forgotten?

_Jemma was at the HUB._

His heartbeat increased as hundreds of different scenarios started to play in his mind.

She was _alone_ at the HUB.

He heard Garrett talking about leaving the Bus after destroying it but Coulson refused. Fitz felt a small wave of gratitude towards his commanding officer as he chose his team members rather than safety itself.

"It's a cherry ride, I'll give you that," Garrett remarked, trying to coax some sense in Coulson. "But let's not just hand over the keys."

Fitz looked up.

"Simmons is at the HUB," he said and saw the identical concerned looks that Skye and Coulson were giving him."We have to save her."

His voice was firm and both nodded in agreement.

His thoughts drifted again and he was vaguely aware of Garrett worrying over Triplett stationed there and he heard Coulson agreeing to let Ward and May out of the Cage and get ready to face whatever threat was awaiting them at the HUB.

Fitz found himself oddly calm despite the thudding of his heart. He thought of all the weapons, prototypes and inventions that he could get ready for them to use.

His resolve was firm.

He would not hesitate.

The only thing that mattered was getting Jemma back safely.

-:-

Jemma thought that she was going to die.

When Agent Hand had offered her and Agent Triplett to swear undying loyalty to Hydra for their lives, Jemma's immediate answer was 'No'.

No because Hydra went against all of her ideals and principles. No because Hydra was meant to kill and destroy in the name of power. But most of all, no because she had seen what evil organisations like Hydra really did. Centipede was just like Hydra: it took advantage of people, used and destroyed everyone and everything for its purposes.

Centipede had used her studies -both hers and Fitz's science- for their own advantage. And that had led to the death of many men who were changed into super-soldiers and to the transformation of Mike Peterson to Deathlock.

No. She would rather die than join Hydra.

But then it turned out to be a test and she and Triplett were alive.

Her heart was still beating fast in her chest as she walked behind Agent Hand and her agents towards the Operations room.

The Senior Agent's charade to find Hydra agents was subtly cunning, yes, but also deadly. She wondered how many SHIELD agents had died thinking that betrayal was better than death...

She shuddered.

Her mind was buzzing with thoughts and doubts.

She eyed Agent Triplett walking beside her: she had decided to trust him and it seemed that she had been correct.

Agent Hand's accusation of Coulson being Hydra rung in her ears.

It couldn't be... Agent Coulson _couldn't_ be Hydra.

The mere thought was laughable.

Her thoughts went to the Team and to Fitz. Her heart twisted at the thought that they could be facing numerous dangers while she was there, somehow secure, in the HUB.

She shouldn't have left Fitz's side...

She should have been there with him to face this menace. Together as they always did.

But she had to let her scientific mind take over, let her concern over Skye and the doubts over Coulson's decision to keep everything "in house" to make her immediately agree to be debriefed by Agent Hand and make the brash decision to use one of the lab facilities for her purposes.

This was the only time that she hadn't thought of him, hadn't worried about being divided... but now they were separated while their world was being torn apart.

The thought that she might not see Fitz again lurked through her mind and she had to forcibly shove it away in a corner of her head.

No. She _will_ see him. He will be alright.

When they entered the Operations room, she heard one of the agents tell Hand that the raid of the Bus had been unsuccessful: no one had been found.

Jemma sighed in relief, thanking whatever good star was looking after her Team. She didn't know what sort of welcome party had been awaiting them but judging by Victoria Hand's working style, it probably included weapons and aggressiveness before questioning.

Her mind wandered and she imagined Fitz getting out his prototypes to help the Team out. There were so many projects that he had submitted to HQ and that no one but high ranking agents used. She had worked on some of those projects too but the majority were Fitz's doing. He had a creativity that she admired. A genius mind that complemented and bettered her work.

Fitz complemented her. He made her better.

Had she _ever_ told him this?

She was abruptly drawn out of her thoughts when she heard a comment from Agent Hand.

"You were right. We should have blown that plane out of the sky."

"Are you mad?" Jemma didn't even think before the outburst tumbled out of her mouth and she marched forward as Hand said that they shouldn't show mercy towards Hydra.

Why was she so adamant about Coulson being a traitor? Why was she condemning her entire Team to death?

"There is no way Coulson is Hydra!" she exclaimed. "He is a good man. A friend."

"He's a liar!" Agent Hand shouted and Jemma slightly stepped back in surprise, not expecting the vehement tone in the cool and calm senior agent.

What had Coulson done to deserve so much mistrust? Yes, he could be very secretive when he wanted to but he had never made Jemma doubt about his fidelity towards SHIELD.

She tried to retort, tried to defend the man that was her commanding officer and whom she trusted even though some of his recent actions had made her trust waver a little; yet she believed in the worth and integrity of Agent Coulson. And when she heard about Coulson's known crimes, it only strengthened her belief in him.

_Recruiting known enemies of SHIELD._

_Skye_. The Rising Tide hacker, then SHIELD consultant and now SHIELD agent.

Skye who had almost _died_ for SHIELD. SHIELD was her family: they were her family.

Coulson had seen her worth from the very start.

_Disobeying direct orders._

Jemma was alive because Coulson had disobeyed Agent Blake's order.

Had Coulson been different, more ruthless, she would have been thrown out of the Bus, seen as a menace.

Instead Coulson had decided to give her a chance, believing in her capabilities, before obeying the orders. He had shouted at her for almost killing herself when she thought that there wasn't any cure for the virus.

He cared...

Without any warning, her mind wandered, reliving the Chitauri incident and Fitz occupied every thought. A wave of emotions, raw and hot, washed through her as his face appeared in her head and his words echoed through her mind.

She almost missed Agent Jacobson going on with the list of crimes pending on Coulson's head: Akela Amadour, Professor Hall...

They didn't know..._anything_. They didn't know what had happened with these people. Didn't know that Professor Hall had threatened to use his studies on gravitonium to kill countless people and that Akela Amadour was just a victim of Centipede.

As was Mike Peterson even though he was too far gone to be saved now...

She had to do something. She had to find a way to convince Agent Hand that she was wrong and that her Team was SHIELD.

She had to find a way to save her teammates. To save Fitz.

"_You_ helped us save Coulson from the Clairvoyant," she pointed out, trying to refocus but Agent Hand was inflexible. She pointed out how Ward shot the Clairvoyant before they could question him and Jemma's logical brain couldn't help but agree and share her doubts.

Something must have shown on her face because the senior agent pressed on.

"The lies add up, Agent Simmons. Are you telling me he never kept a secret from you?" Jemma averted her gaze, hoping that it seemed thoughtful and not blatantly guilty. She was there at the HUB because Coulson had kept a secret from her: kept the GH325 secret. She was here because some part of her didn't trust him.

"The worst thing you can do right now is to underestimate Hydra. They hide in plain sight. They earn our trust, our sympathy. They make us like them."

Jemma's thoughts wandered to her Team. They were all different, couldn't be any more different from each other and yet she trusted them. Liked them.

She would never believe that one of them was Hydra. Be it secretive Coulson, impassible May, stoic Ward or stubborn Skye.

As for Fitz... There was no doubt there. She would never not trust Fitz.

"And when you hesitate..they strike. If we were to survive, we must learn to strike first."

Jemma realised what Agent Hand was doing. She was subtly brainwashing her, making her doubt her own Team so that she could help capture them -maybe.

But making her stop trusting Fitz? That was the woman's mistake.

That would not happen.

Fitz was there in the HUB. Somewhere. With the Team.

And if she knew them well enough, they were going to try and find her.

She had to find them first, before Agent Hand.

-:-

Fitz was alert and completely focused. He got the weapons ready and fully charged, gave them to the Team and Garrett and slowly wandered down the HUB's corridors holding an ICER in his hand as though he did it on daily basis.

He was not thinking of the fact that the Bus had just been attacked, that bullets had destroyed most of the rooms and common spaces where he and the rest of the Team had had lived for months.

Fitz didn't think of his heart thumping as shards of glass showered over him and bullets whizzed over his head. He didn't linger to acknowledge the feeling of betrayal that surged in a corner of his heart: betrayal for the attack coming from one of SHIELD's headquarters.

He didn't think about being scared.

Fitz's constant thought was Jemma.

She was somewhere here in the HUB. They had to find her. She could be in danger, maybe a prisoner because of her belonging to the Team and God knows what Victoria Hand could want from her.

He _had to_ find her.

So he didn't question Garrett's plan and easily faked to be a HUB agent with him, escorting prisoners Coulson and May. He didn't hesitate when he shot down one of the men in Machinery Control room.

He started to check all the monitors, keeping his eyes and ears open if one of his companions saw anything. When May saw Victoria Hand on screen, he rushed to it and started to scan the nearby cameras for any trace or glimpse of Jemma.

He heard Garrett and Coulson discuss behind him and even though he trusted his commanding officer, Fitz couldn't help but agree a little bit with Garrett. Killing Victoria Hand could be a solution...an option.

But Coulson being Coulson didn't agree and Fitz felt his respect for the man grow despite the situation. He was an Agent of SHIELD through and through and wouldn't accept to condemn someone to certain death without being sure of it.

The ghost of their previous mission and Ward killing a man that they thought was the Clairvoyant still lingered over them.

Garrett was less merciful. He started to list all the things the Clairvoyant had done to the Team, starting from Skye almost dying and Fitz felt a wave of anger and guilt wash through him.

"She tortured you," Garrett remarked, looking at Coulson. "Using the same machine she used to brainwash that bitch in the flower dress. And right now, she's probably doing the same to Agent Simmons."

Fitz's mind went blank. He remembered seeing the machine in that empty house in the desert and Coulson's face as he staggered out of it supported by Skye and May would be forever burnt in his mind.

The thought that Jemma could be put through that... The thought that she could be turned to resemble Raina, brainwashed to follow the orders of a twisted mind...

Jemma's brilliant mind, her active and positive brain full of ideas, thoughts and life just destroyed to serve someone...

It was too much for him to bear.

"No," he said firmly. "Simmons will be fine."

"I'm just being realistic, kid." Garrett replied.

Fitz then noticed Coulson's face. The look of shock on his face as though he had realised something utterly surprising or horrific.

And when Coulson talked, Fitz's mind quickly cottoned on. A wave of dread coursed through his body.

No... it couldn't be..

But it _did_ make sense... The Clairvoyant had security clearance. And Coulson slowly explained the rest.

_It all made sense._

"Damn it," Garrett muttered with a sigh after failing to come up with a reply to Coulson's accusing questions.

The door flew open and a squad of men in tactical gear and rifles swarmed in, shouting to freeze and hold their hands up.

Fitz automatically did as he was told and watched as the others did too. His mind was in overdrive: thoughts about Jemma, fear for her safety mingled with the sudden revelation that..

"Take Agent Garrett into custody!" Coulson shouted. "He's the murderer they call the Clairvoyant. He's a traitor!"

He heard Coulson voice his own conclusion. Disbelief and anger surged through him. He had trusted Garrett, thought that he a friend.

Fitz could clearly see the betrayed look on his commanding officer's face, the emotion concealed behind his words. He had seen that look earlier when he was pointing a gun at May and questioning him about the encrypted hardline.

It wasn't just SHIELD: they were all falling to pieces, crumbling down...

"Gentlemen," Garrett said calmly. "I know Agent Sitwell was in charge of filling your ranks so... At least a few of you know what to do in this situation."

Fitz looked at the men in front of him and at the man that only a few minutes ago he thought was a friend. His mind was a confused jumble now…

Agent Sitwell? Wasn't he the other Level 8 agent that worked with Agent Hand? The one Jemma had shot down with the Night-Night gun?

He...He couldn't be… could he?

How deep did this all go?

"Any time boys..." Garrett coaxed

It was a massacre before his eyes.

The squad, divided in two neat lines of men, suddenly shifted as the back line's men moved their weapons and killed their teammates.

Fitz watched as they fell to the ground and blood oozed out of them. He expected to be filled with panic or fear...but he wasn't.

"Hail, Hydra," Garrett said calmly.

"Hail Hydra!" the men shouted as one.

Fitz was at a loss. Everything he had believed in for the past eight years was being destroyed. He saw Coulson look down at the dead men -SHIELD agents doing their work- and then stare at Garrett with hatred.

May looked equally livid.

Fitz felt numb. Only one thought was in his head.

"_She's probably doing the same to Agent Simmons."_

Jemma...

She was being tortured somewhere... She could be dying... Some Hydra agent could be hurting her...

Fitz looked up as Garrett smirked and walked in front of the squad. It looked like a firing squad...

He wouldn't be able to reach her...again.

His heart just shattered.

-:-

Jemma's heart leapt in her throat when it was announced that they had found her Team. A squadron of specialists had found them and called in to say that they were going to capture them. The men in the Operations room who had been scanning for feedback from the hidden microphones quickly connected to the one in the machineries room.

It was odd to watch a black screen and hear talking. The words she heard made her stagger and she couldn't believe what Coulson said.

_Agent Garrett_ was the Clairvoyant.

She turned to Agent Triplett standing beside her and saw the incredulous look in his eyes. Jemma turned and saw that Victoria Hand was standing and listening carefully, her face not showing any emotion.

In her whirlwind of thoughts, she missed what Garrett said but jumped when she heard the gunshots.

Her heart stopped.

_Fitz_...

And then, the other bombshell was dropped.

Agent Garrett was Hydra.

Jemma turned to Agent Hand, expecting her to send someone to go in and capture Garrett. Expecting all of them to rush into the room and maybe be in time to save her teammates.

They couldn't be dead...

_He_ couldn't be dead.

But Victoria Hand didn't move nor did anyone in the room. Jemma was about to speak, get anyone's attention when she heard a voice again. Relief washed through her.

It was Coulson.

"_Those three men in your unit. I guess they asked the wrong questions."_

His tone was calm, sombre even.

"_Until today it was all about keeping the secret."_

Jemma looked at Triplett again and he looked murderous. She had heard about the Clairvoyant's killing of his teammates and his partner. To know that it had been Garrett, his own commanding officer, to order their deaths... She didn't want to imagine what he was feeling.

"_Are you going to kill us?"_

The familiar brogue stirred something in her as she gasped in relief; her heartbeat turned normal knowing that he wasn't dead. He was alive...

But then Fitz's question registered in her brain and there was a wave of emotions again.

"_That wasn't my plan really. If it was, I would have done that any time that I wanted."_

Garrett's reply made Jemma clench her fist tight, coils of anger coming to life in her stomach. They had all trusted him.

She heard him talk about him and Coulson, of how they had been trained together with Fury as their S.O. He mocked Director Fury saying that he would be rolling in his grave now.

Jemma dared to look around the room: Triplett was shaking in rage next to her and various agents' face were livid. Victoria Hand was the only to stay impassible.

"_Top Brass?"_

May. She was alive too. And by her tone, she was just as stunned as everyone else.

Hydra agents were up to the top levels of SHIELD.

She heard Garrett talk about Hydra and how they had acted in the shadows until now, of how they faked to be SHIELD all along while Coulson retorted against it.

And then, at Garrett's suggestion to join Hydra came Coulson's answer.

"_I would die before serving Hydra, you sick son of a bitch!"_

His voice was strong, defiant and Jemma could almost see the expression on his face as he said that. It felt as though someone had allowed a wave of fresh air into the room because the agents looked bolstered by Coulson's words. She saw the senior agents exchange a look and small smile as though acknowledging that Agent Phil Coulson, Level 8 agent and close to Director Nick Fury and Maria Hill was a loyal SHIELD agent.

Victoria Hand stood still and impassible as though nothing had happened.

What was she waiting for? What was she expecting Coulson to do?

Jemma heard Garrett taunt Coulson, telling him that he had been serving Hydra all along and that death was his only alternative. He then focused on May, telling her that he knew she would follow Coulson to the grave. And then..

"_As for you, Agent Fitz, you'll hold a very high rank on our Tech division if you volunteer."_

Jemma's heart thudded in her chest again.

She knew Fitz, knew him thoroughly. He would _never_...

"_If not, you'll have no rank and a lot of pain. Of course, either way, your services will be required."_

Hydra wanted him. Of course, Hydra would be interested in Fitz and his brilliant devices. She swallowed the lump in her throat and tightened her fists, nails biting in her palms as Garrett taunted him with the prospect of torture.

There was a moment of silence and Jemma felt her own heart beating loudly in her chest. No one in the room was moving and were waiting for the answer of Coulson's engineer.

"_You're going to suffer for what you've done,"_ Fitz voice was thick and low; when she heard him sniff, Jemma choked a gasp with her hand on her mouth because she just knew.

Fitz was crying.

"_And I... I plan in being a very big part of that."_

Jemma pushed back tears and tried to stay strong. She was terrified and proud of him.

Leopold Fitz, the Level 5 engineer who didn't even want to go into the field, had just openly defied the Clairvoyant.

Fitz had just proved himself a true Agent of SHIELD.

"_I like you, kid!" _Garrett's voice was almost jovial. "_Alright, let them have it but shoot that one in the kneecaps."_

Jemma's mind went numb. Her eyes were only seeing the black screen in front of her and she didn't hear anything but the loud and fast thumping of her own heart in her ears.

Short breaths escaped her lips, barely concealed by her hand on her mouth as she slowly came to terms with what was going to happen.

They were going to kill her teammates.

They were going to hurt Fitz.

They were going to _kill _Fitz.

The thought sparked a reaction in her, a rush of adrenaline that coursed through her veins, igniting her mind and heart.

"What are you waiting for?" she exclaimed, turning towards Victoria Hand. "Fitz, Coulson and May are going to die! They are all SHIELD!"

But the woman was a step ahead of her: she must have given some order while she had been focused on listening.

"Coast's clear to the machinery control room," an agent announced behind them.

"Go," Agent Hand said and they were all moving towards the door when they heard an explosion. The sound reverberated through the audio feed.

Jemma turned to the black screen and realised that the explosion had occurred in that room.

Her heart cracked and shattered when she realised that they might be too late.

-:-

Fitz knew that he was going to die.

He had refused to join Hydra and defied Garrett.

He would never betray SHIELD.

But the tears rolling silently on his cheeks and the grief choking his throat were not only for that. He was scared, yes.

But the fear for his safety didn't overcome the thought that Jemma was somewhere that he couldn't reach her, tortured or held captive. The thought that she might die was overwhelming him.

The mere thought that she could already be dead was so petrifying that he couldn't even conjure it in his head.

He'd never get a chance to actually talk to her and let her know about his feelings…

He wouldn't see the blinding smile and honey coloured eyes that had captured his attention when he was younger.

He wouldn't see Jemma again…

The sudden explosion almost knocked him down on his arse and definitely out of his stupor.

The lights went out and he suddenly remembered that Skye and Ward were to reach the processing centre. He realised that Skye -surely Skye- might have decided not to hack but destroy the centre.

When the emergency lights flickered on, all hell broke loose.

Coulson tackled Garrett while May took the four men of the strike team.

Fitz was not a fighter and he knew that staying still or in the way would just give problems to May and Coulson or make him end up dead.

He quickly slid under a desk, heart thundering in his chest. He felt tingles of panic and fear lacing his veins.

He watched as Coulson and Garrett fought each other, punch after punch while May -she surely deserved the epithet Cavalry- single handedly shot, kicked and punched the men she was fighting.

A gun skidded his way. From where he didn't know..

And then he saw it.

May was fighting a man and had kicked him off. As she turned, ready to face another opponent, one of the men staggered up to his feet and pointed a gun at her.

He was going to kill her.

Fitz didn't know how he did: it happened so quickly that he didn't even realise. He just knew that he had the gun in his hand: it was heavy, feeling almost foreign to his hold after months of dealing with his own weapons and definitely not an ICER.

He didn't even stop to think that barely a few hours ago, May had aimed an ICER at him and had shot twice.

He took aim with half closed eyes and fired. Once.

Twice.

Three times.

The sound echoed throughout the room, the aftershock of every shot sent vibrations down his arms and shoulders.

Fitz saw May look at him with wide eyes but he didn't linger on her. He tossed the gun away and as it clattered to the ground, his eyes fell on the body lying immobile a few meters away from him.

He felt something close to desperation clench his chest

He had just killed a man.

-:-

They were all rushing towards the Machine Control Room.

Agent Hand was communicating with the agents at the Operations' room and was told that there were sounds of a fight occurring.

A small spark of hope bloomed in Jemma's chest. The explosion had made her imagine all the possible scenarios, the worst ones actually.

The most hopeful was that her missing teammates were behind this and that it was all part of a plan that Coulson had made early on.

And then, while the door was finally visible down the corridor, she heard the gunshots.

Three shots.

Jemma's heart went numb and her breathing erratic.

No... No, please, _no_...

They were almost there. They were about to save them...

Her mind went to Fitz. His face, his smile, his eyes..Everything.

She saw the other agents pull out their weapons, was vaguely aware of Agent Hand giving orders.

He _had_ to be alive.

She would never forgive herself if he... Jemma had to swallow dryly, fighting emotions that were about to cripple her down.

The agents opened the door with a quick shove and shouted to raise their hands and drop the weapons.

Jemma's eyes scanned the room rapidly.

There were bodies. Many bodies.

The blood chilled in her veins.

She saw May standing and looking weary. She then saw Coulson, getting to his feet, blood seeping through a cut on his arm.

But she didn't see him...

Her heart was lodged somewhere in her throat and she couldn't bring herself to stop looking around, to stop believing that he was there...

Her eyes started to linger on the corpses littering the floor and she was hoping -desperately- to not recognize the familiar sandy brown curls.

She didn't want to believe that he was gone... She didn't want to think that he was somewhere where she couldn't reach him.

A movement in the corner caught her eye and she saw him, crawling from under a desk.

He was trembling, hands up and eyes confused. Hurt.

But he was _alive_.

-:-

When the door was thrown open, he feared that it was another threat.

He imagined other Hydra agents swarming in and killing them. He imagined himself lying cold on the ground next to the man he had killed.

When he saw that it was Victoria Hand, he felt a little spark of hope. Mere moments ago, he had almost agreed to shoot the woman thinking that she was the Clairvoyant..

But then he saw her. _Jemma_.

She was alive.

Warm, glorious relief flooded his body and all thoughts fled his mind except for one.

'She's still here with me.'

-:-

"Don't move!" Shouted Agent Jacobson but Jemma didn't even listen. She ran forward, sidestepping a body and launched herself onto Fitz.

She caught a glimpse of his face and saw the look of relief when he saw her.

He must have been thinking the worst about her safety too...

She felt his arms wrap around her body, his warmth radiated against her body and soothed her nerves.

He was alive. Fitz was alright.

He was still there with her.

"Jemma..." he whispered softly, almost disbelieving. "You're alright."

She nodded, blinking away tears. She never thought that she'd worry about not hearing his voice.

"You're alright..." she whispered back and tightened her arms around him.

They broke apart and she heard Coulson speak.

"I'm not Hydra!" he announced and Jemma turned around and saw Victoria Hand looking at him for a moment.

"We heard," she replied. "Everything."

"Who is? How deep does it go?"

Coulson's question lingered in the air. Everyone's doubts and fears gave him an answer.

-:-

When they walked back into the Bus later, Jemma failed to hide a gasp at the state of what had been their home for months.

Getting inside the lounge room was even worse. She saw the perforated walls and furniture, the glass shards littering the floor and hanging on the doors and panels.

Jemma was still struggling with the enormity of what had happened. Her mind was still elaborating, coming to conclusions and understanding.

Her only constant right now was Fitz.

Fitz who had been silent and had never left her side ever since they had hugged. She didn't question his attitude: she didn't want to wander away from his either.

He was there with her. That was all that mattered.

* * *

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